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Tuesday July 30, 2002

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fanfaronade \fan-fair-uh-NAYD; -NOD\ , noun:
1. Swaggering; empty boasting; blustering manner or behavior; ostentatious display.
2. Fanfare.

George Manahan made his debut this week as music director of New York City Opera, and it is difficult to imagine someone laying claim to a major podium with less of a fanfaronade.
-- Justin Davidson, "A Director's Toil Pays Some Dividends", Newsday, September 21, 1996

But like a demure singer in a long gown who is surrounded by chorus girls in sequined miniskirts, the statue may seem slightly lost amid the fanfaronade.
-- Richard Stengel, "Rockets will glare and bands blare to celebrate the statue", Time, July 7, 1986

Fanfaronade derives from Spanish fanfarronada, from fanfarrón, "braggart," from Arabic farfar, "garrulous."

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for fanfaronade

 

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